Thelma Houston on my clock radio

In February of 1977, I was home on vacation from the 6th grade when my mom returned from grocery shopping. While helping her put away the groceries, I took out a clock radio from one of the bags. "Who is this for?" I asked. "You," she responded. From that day on, turning on the radio was the first thing I did when I entered my room. If I hear a song that was once played on the radio, I still remember what was going on in my life when that particular song was popular. This song reminds me of that day in 1977. Right on.

The song was originally recorded by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (featuring Teddy Pendergrass) in 1975. Have a listen...

Boston's WBCN

As a teenager in the late 1970s and early 80s, radio stations were my window to the world. During junior high after getting a clock radio for my bedroom, JB105 out of Rhode Island was my favorite for pop music. In the 9th grade while briefly diggin' hard rock, WAAF in Worcester, MA did it for me. During the 10th grade, WCOZ was very popular and many kids wore COZ t-shirts to school. But in the 11th grade, I discovered WBCN and was obsessed. My parents bought a new car that year and without permission I slapped a BCN sticker on the bumper. It was 1982 and music was changing. New-wave was becoming big and BCN rotated this new genre into its repertoire. I would travel to Boston to Newbury Comics when there was only one store on Newbury Street to buy my 45s because Strawberries didn't carry the local music I was hearing on BCN. Below, are some of the actual 45s that I bought during that unique time in music history:

WBCN introduced me to Lene Lovich, one of my favs from that era: